V.V. Argost
Vincent Vladislav Argost, more commonly referred to as V. V. Argost or simply Argost, is the main antagonist in The Secret Saturdays. He is actually the Yeti of Himalayan legend (as revealed in the second last episode). He created a mask in his mountain home and went out into the human world. He was voiced by Corey Burton, who also played Count Dooku in the animated Star Wars series. History He hosts his own show, Weird World, which is about cryptids. Zak Saturday (prior to Kur Rising) was a big fan, even though his parents didn't want him to watch the show. His museum of cryptid relics and trinkets is really an arsenal of magical objects he plans to use to get his hands on the most powerful cryptid of all, Kur. In the premiere of season 2, episode "Kur (Part 1)", it is revealed that following his defeat at Antarctica that Argost has disappeared. Despite this, his loyal fans however have been spray painting "Argost Lives" on buildings, cars, and even the Saturday's own Airship (much to Doc's chagrin). When the Saturdays go on the run, Doyle, aided by Zon and later Van Rook, begins a search to find him to find out all he knows about Kur to help the Saturdays. Van Rook has stated if Argost is alive, he will be licking his wounds in a place where he feels at home. When Doyle mentions they already tried Weird World, Van Rook berates his former apprentice for his lack of imagination saying that Argost has always preferred cryptids to people. In other words, he will be recuperating somewhere isolated and close to one of his "pets." In the final episode of season 1, "Kur Rising" his mask is cracked by Zak during the fight. Up until recently it was unknown that Argost's "face" was actually some kind of mask (although it was mentioned in the promo site "Wierd World"), which was revealed in the end of season 1 when Zak cracked it during their fight. This is because he is actually a cryptid, the legendary Yeti. He has powerful claws and muscle power, along with a twisted evil mind. In his true form Argost is a lot taller than a normal human, which explains his always hunched over position when he is in disguise. He is possibly as tall or taller than the Hibagon and also very strong and agile, able to take on multiple opponents with little effort. He has a knack of using cryptids in battle in ways that no one thought possible before, such as using the neural parasites to actually control someone when it was originally believed one could only view what the host saw and not manipulate them. Doc has mentioned before that the Secret Scientists probably don't even know a fraction of his capabilities. It was believed by Doyle in "Kur (Part 2)" that Argost was actually dead when he and Van Rook track Munya to Scotland and discover he has been faking Weird World promos with a text-to-audio device. Argost turns out to actually be alive and saves Zak from a sneak attack from Rani Naga by tackling her off her cryptid mount, although all Zak and Fiskerton see is a blurry shadow during the incident. He later appears in person after Zak sends all the cryptid attackers home, grabs Zak, taking him up to the top of a building. Fisk follows and the two fight briefly before the cryptid loses his balance and looks like he is about to fall off the building when Argost grabs his arm pulling the cryptid to safety. He tells Zak he hopes that this action is enough proof that all he wants is to talk. He admits he knows Zak's true identity and in the end he will most likely betray him but he is willing to teach Zak to control his power "covertly" through Weird World. Zak agrees despite the risks and later asks Doyle to dig up as much has he can of Argost's past so he can have an edge over Argost if he needs it. From Baron Finster it is learned that Argost provided the initial design for the criminal's lower body, originally more organic than the mechanical body it would eventually become. Argost gave him the design in exchange for the money to launch Weird World, having nothing but his cape and his mask at that point in his life. It is also learned from Baron Finster that it is unwise for anyone who knows anything about Argost's past to talk about it because such people have a habit of vanishing. Finster himself is kidnapped by Munya for apparently saying too much though he manages to cryptically tell Doyle to "follow the cryptids" before being dragged off by Munya. At the end of 'Legion of Garuda', he took the flute of Gilgamesh (an item said to be able to extract the spirit of Kur). He appeared again in "Return Of Tsul 'Kalu", when Doyle, Zon, and Van Rook tracked Finister's message to a cryptid black market. At first, it looked like he was after the dealer, but in the end, his real target was an orange ape-like cryptid called the Xing-Xing. Last Stand In And Your Enemies Closer, Argost made his final move, secretly shows up to help Zak remove a dangerous cryptid from Dr. Beeman's lab, which later turns out to be Argost's final trap that puts Zak's life in danger. He then captured Zak and took him to a secret island where he revealed he had obtained the Monday's smoke mirror from the Louvre, having learned about the existence of the Mondays when he hacked into the Saturday's database. Using Zak's presence in the mirror, Argost freed Zak Monday, only to use the Flute Of Gilgamesh to steal the evil doppelganger's powers. At the same time, Doyle and Drew discover that their parents were lost because they were attacked by a Himalayan monster called the Yeti. Upon inspecting the beast's abandoned lair, they discover a mold for Argost's mask, who at the same time, rips his mask off, revealing his true identity as a cryptid. Defeat In "War of the Cryptids", Argost's complete back story is explained at first. Having obtained a television as a 'souvenir' from one of mountain camps, Argost as the Yeti and the Xing-Xing cryptid he later captured learned how to speak English from it. After coming back from his attack on the Blackwell's camp, the Xing-Xing warned Argost that the humans would come after him. Argost wasn't worried however, as he donned the mask he had made to walk among humans to make it hard to find him. He got his television show by creating robotic spider legs for Baron Finster as compensation for his services. In the present, Argost used his stolen Anti-Kur powers to raise an army of the most vicious cryptids to live and had them attack capital cities all over the world. Eventually, he is confronted by the Saturdays and their allies. Once down, he is attacked by Drew and Doyle who tell him that he attacked their parents twenty-seven years ago while separating the siblings. Argost merely taunted them and labeled their parents among his many victims who all screamed in different ways. Before they could attack, Zak intervened and Argost used this as a chance escape the Saturday family. At his lair, he is approached by the Nagas who see him as the true Kur and convince him to eliminate humanity instead of enslaving it, which he decides to go through and has his army attack. When the Saturdays stormed Weird World and prepared to fight the Nagas, Argost offered to let everyone go free if Zak went with him. At first, Zak didn't agree until during the fight, Rani Nagi launched a fatal blast, meant for Drew, at Van Rook. Argost then revealed that since his plan to drain Zak Monday's power worked so well, he decided to do the same to Zak. However, he didn't hear Zak's warning that matter and antimatter cannot exist in the same universe and just as he was feeling a moment of ultimate victory, the combination of the matter/antimatter Kur powers makes an intense vortex open and he is then sucked into it while screaming. Argost then vanishes into the vortex, apparently destroyed and ending his threat (as well as the threat of Kur) once and for all. Ben 10 Crossover However, it is revealed that in the crossover episode "T.G.I.S" of Ben 10 Omniverse that Argost was actually thrown into a state of antimatter flux and had in place a back-up plan with Dr. Animo to revive him through the use of cryptid and alien DNA. He is indeed returned to life by the mad doctor although after three years instead of the agreed upon month and in a chimeric amalgamation of various cryptids that he finds less than pleasing at first. Very soon finds his new body is to his advantage when he seeks revenge on Zak and is thrilled to learn that he still has the powers of the antimatter Kur which allows him to control an entire army of mutant cryptids with a single thought. Ultimately he is defeated once again through the teamwork of Zak and Ben Tennyson, the later of whom manages to drain Argost's powers; effectively trapping him within his own body in a coma-like state. After his resurrection Argost's body is now a patchwork of machine and cryptid body parts: Specifically the head, torso, and left arm of a Yeti, the horns, wings and legs of the Jersey Devil, and the tail and head for a right arm of the Loch Ness Monster. Additionally his body is interspersed with stitches where he was put back together and machinery. Personality Argost peppers his speech with French words and phrases, and his most common greeting to others is "Greetings and bienvenue." He commonly uses cryptid animals and plants as weapons against the Saturdays and wears a cape made from Megatooth shark skin which can shield him from attacks. Argost also seems to have a natural affinity with certain cryptids, maybe because he is a cryptid himself. Though not the same as Zak's Kur powers, it has been seen that certain cryptids naturally obey him, like in Once More the Nightmare Factory when he is fighting with Doc and releases a horde of insects that normally attack anyone. The creatures don't attack him but instead go straight for Doc. Even the Bunyips, who are notorious for trouble making, appear to "behave" when they are around him. Powers and Abilities In the game Code of the Cryptids, he has the ability to control lightning and his megatooth shark skin gives him the ability to glide. Argost also showed a high level of agility in The Atlas Pin during the dogfight between the Saturdays and his own ship. Annoyed the fight was not finished quickly he left the ship and leapt from his own ship onto the Saturdays' ship from a considerable distance, making the landing with little effort before proceeding to hit the ship with acid pellets. Also in Kur (Part 2) he is shown to be able to scale the side of a building, his hands and "claws" were literally digging into the stonework. In Life in the Underground his claws are shown to leave marks in solid steel. This happens when he is talking to Zak in the clocktower and casually traces his claws over a metal beam, leaving an obvious indent behind. Trivia * Since Argost was a cryptid, he was afraid that Zak could control him like any other one. That is why he wore a mask. There was no longer any need for it once he stole Zak Monday's Anti-Kur powers. The only reason he would remove it is because the power he stole grants him immunity to being influenced by Zak. * Interestingly, in The Atlas Pin, when Argost flew around the world in search of Kur, he did not go anywhere near Zak's location (Kumari Kandam) nor Antarctica. * Ironically, Argost tried to kill Zak multiple times, believing Zak was the one who would stop Kur when in fact Zak is Kur. In other words, Argost tried to kill the one he wanted control of. * Even more ironic, Argost actually had control of Zak with the neural parasite in the episode Shadows of Lemuria, the second to last episode of season 1. However, Argost did not make Zak use his powers, possibly because he underestimated Zak and didn't think that he would be Kur. * His full name is Vincent Vladislav Argost in season 2. * Following his disappearance, his loyal fans have taken to spray painting "Argost Lives" on various objects, like buildings and vehicles. His fans, ironically enough, sprayed "Argost Lives" on the Saturdays' own Airship. * He is a temporary NPC in Cartoon Network's MMO FusionFall for Thanksgiving 2009 making him the first character from The Secret Saturdays to be in the game. As a part of FusionFall's first anniversary, he was confirmed as a permanent NPC that will be launched during the 2010 expansion. * In Argost's mansion there is a plaque depicting a picture of him in a crown and holding a scepter. On the plaque "orbis terrarum est mei" is written. Translated from Latin into English it means "the world is mine." * It should be noted that Zak has never tried using his powers on Argost's "pets" to turn them against him. * One Secret Saturdays website jokingly has "Argost Lives" spray painted on it. * So far Argost has fought Zak twice in the series and lost both times, but in War of the Cryptids he is about to challenge Zak, to the most unpleasant, dangerous, and ultimate task of his life. * In the episode "And Your Enemies Closer", it is revealed that he is actually the legendary cryptid, the Yeti, and that it is his fault Drew and Doyle's family got separated. He takes items from camps he attack as souvenirs meaning he attacks for fun and not for food. One of the souvenirs was a TV which he and the Xing-Xing used to learn English. ** Also, this could mean that Argost's first language was Tibetan. * One could actually say that Argost has finally defeated Zak as of "War of the Cryptids", since he seemingly dies moments after Zak's "death". * Oddly enough, reality did not warp when he became negative Kur and fought Zak (Positive Kur) despite him getting close enough for a long enough time. * His name Vladislav has a Romanian-Serbian origin. * His Hybrid form in Ben 10 Omniverse resembles the dragon winged and wyrm tailed satyr depiction of the devil but with a dragon for an arm. * Argost's most recurring weapon in the series (prior to And Your Enemies Closer), was the Devonian Annelid. Category:2000s Category:The Secret Saturdays Characters